Thread-stand.



, menses.

JOHN MAITLAND, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS.

THREAD-STAND.

Application filed January 7, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MAITLAND, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented. cer tain new and useful Improvements inThread-Stands, of which the following is a a specification.

The present invention relates to stands or holders for thread used insewing machines,

such a stand being adapted to supply thread to a machine having one,two, or more needles. The main object of the invention is to furnish astand from which thread wound on a tube may be supplied to the sewingmachine, such stand having means for preventing the coils of thread fromfalling from the tube and being tangled or wrapped about any part of thestand or support in such a way that it can not be drawn freely, and alsoto provide a means for protecting the thread from currents or drafts ofair.

In order that the purposes and advantages of my present invention may bebetter understood I will explain that where thread wound upon spools isused in connection with a sewing machine of the sort which uses threadsupported on a stand separate from the machine, which is the usualpractice with multineedle machines, it is a matter of great diflicultyto draw the thread from the spools, and this difliculty increases as thesupply on the spool diminishes, due largely to the tendency of thethread becoming caught on rough or irregular points, or in cracks on andin the head of the spool. Moreover the cost to the user of spool woundthread is much greater than that of thread wound upon tubes, on accountof the expense of the spools. On the other hand, inthe case of threadwhich is wound upon tubes the tendency is greater for the outer windingof the thread to fall, particularly when the thread is exposed to draftsof air, which tend to P blow off the slackened outer windings from thetube of thread. When the thread thus falls or is blown from the tube, itis liable to kink and snarl, or to be wrapped about some part of thesupport, wherefore it does not run readily and breaks, or must be brokento dispose of the snarl. Every breaking of the thread necssitates arethreading of the needle, with consequent loss of time and decrease inthe productionof the machine and its operator.

Thread wound upon tubes is, of course,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. a, 1917.

Serial No. 937.

less expensive to the user than spool wound thread because of the lowcost of the tube, and is more convenient to use because the tube has noheads, and because the manner in which thread is wound upon the tubes,which is known as the universal wind, enables the thread to be drawnfrom the end of the tube more readily than it can be drawn over the headof a spool.

By my invention I have produced a stand adapted to receive ,and supportthread wound upon tubes and having means to pro tect the thread from theeffect of drafts of air and also having means to prevent thread whichmight fall from the outer windings of the tube from becoming snarled orcaught in such a way as to prevent its being drawn freely to the sewingmachine.

The figure of the drawing represents an elevation of a thread stand madeaccording to my invention, partly in section and partly broken away toshow its interior.

The stand comprises a base or adapted to be screwed or otherwisesecurely fastened to the base of a sewing machine,-or the bench on whichthe machine is mounted, or on any other support located where the threadmay be led conveniently from the stand to the sewing machine. From thebase rises a post or column b detachably set in a socket in the base andsecured by a set screw 0. The thread holder consists of two cups (2 and6 connected together by a neck 7 which is bored parallel to the axes ofthe cups to permit of its being slipped upon the post 6 and adjusted upand down thereon. It is secured at any desired height by a set screw g.

Preferably the cups and connecting neck are made of cast metal in onepiece, although I do not limit the invention to any particular mode ofmaking the holder. Neither do I limit my invention to a holderconsisting of any particular number of cups, as the essentials of theinvention can be embodied in a holder having one cup or in one havingmore than two, as well as in the specific two-cup holder here shown. Ineach cup is a device for centering and retaining the thread tube in theholder consisting of two rods h attached in any suitable way to thebottom of the cup, conveniently by being screwed into tapped holes inthe bottom. These rods are preferably made of springy material and areplaced far enough apart so that they may enter the tube i and be sprungtogether slightly in thus entering the tube. In the drawing I thereby.Thus it is not essential that the rods constituting the retainer hereshown should be springy, since it is only necessary that some form ofretainer be provided upon which the tube of thread can be easily mountedand which will hold the tube firmly enough to prevent its beingdisplaced by the pull of the thread, and at the same time will notinterfere with thread being drawn off over the end of the tube. Thus anyretainer which engages the interior of the tube of thread in a readilydetachable manner and with sufficient friction for the purpose may "idiskv of felt which is sufliciently soft andbe employed in place of theparticular retainer here shown.

Inthe bottom of. each cup is a packing member 7a which is conveniently alayer or compressible to pack closely against the end of the tubularthread winding and leave no space capable of being entered by any threadwhich might fall from the outside of the thread tube. The function ofthe disk 71 is essentially that of a packing to close up any space whichmight exist between the bottom of the cup and the end of the threadtube, wherefore any packing whichaccomplishes this purpose iswithin theview of my invention.

A guide is provided for each cup consisting in .the form-here shown of arod Z se- .curely attached to the side of the cup by there are asufficient number of holes 0, p,

screws or otherwise, and having an arm on, extending across the top ofthe cup, in which and q, the hole 0 being approximately in line with theaxis of the cupv so that the V I thread will always make the same anglewith the guide; The thread is carried through the hole a, back throughthe'hole p and then through the hole 9, whence it is led to the machine."More holes and bends may be provided, if needed, to give greatertension, or only one of the holes may be used, if the thread is so roughthat carrying it through all of the holes would cause too great resist-;ance and tension. The arms m of the guide devices for the two cups hereshown are connected by an offset neck 1" which is car ried around oneside of the post Z). guides in fact 'aremade from a single rod havingbendsat the proper points to form (epics this patent may belobtained forfive cents each, by

These the upright portions Z and the offset connection 1*, although theguides might be made in any other desired way.

Two or more duplicates of the holding unit here illustrated may bemounted on the same post 6 if it is desired to supply more than twoneedles with thread from the same stand, or as suggested above, aholding unit having more than two cups but otherwise embodying theprinciples herein illustrated could be substituted for the unitillustrated without departure from the invention.

Although I have shown the stand as being in an upright position and thecups of the thread holder as being vertical with their 7 upper endsopen, I desire to state that I do not limit the stand as a whole or theholding element thereof to one which is vertical or can only be used ina vertical position.

In analyzing the construction and functions of the several parts of thethread holding cups, it will be understood that the pins h areessentially a retainer for the thread tube, the bottom or end 8 of thecup is an abutment for the end of the thread tube to prevent loosenedwindings of the thread from becoming wrapped about the retainer, and thesides t of the cup constitute a wind shield.

lVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters. Patent is:

1. A thread stand consisting of a cup open at one end and having atransverse wall at the other end, retaining rods fixed in said wall andprojecting thence toward said open end, being adapted to enter aheadless thread tube and being set at such a distance apart as to. bearforcibly against the inner walls of such tube and produce frictionalresistance to removal of the tube, a guide overlying the open end of thecup, and a support on which the cup is mounted.

2.. A thread stand comprising a supportingpost, a slide mountedadjustably on said post, cup shaped holders forming a part of said slidelocated on opposite sides of said post, a retainer mounted centrally ineach of said holders comprising rods secured in the bottom of the holderin position parallel to the axis thereof, and a rod bent to provide endsapproximately parallel to the, axes of the holders which are secured tothe outer sides, of the respective holders, and having a cross pieceprovided with eyes over the open end of each holder.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN MAITLAND.

addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

